I am now available again to do flights. I have space for passengers tomorrow, Thursday morning, and next week. The weather forecast looks best for flying on Thursday morning, Friday afternoon, Saturday morning. Then maybe on Monday, probably good on Tuesday and Wednesday next week. Call 518-793-6342 if you want to fly tomorrow morning or next week, I’m available. Mornings meet at 6:15 AM and afternoons at 5 PM.
Archive for August, 2011
Lake George is Open for Business
Wednesday, August 31st, 2011Here are a couple of stories that were in the local paper on how the area is progressing after the storm. Click the hot links, 1 – 2. It seems by all accounts, that the Catskills, south of Albany, area got hit the worst, with some parts receiving more than a foot of rain that caused major flooding. Anything along the the Schoharie River received major damage. While our area did receive some damage for the storm, we had nothing like they did over in Vermont, or down in the Catskills and Schoharie County, which are south of us by about 75-100 miles. Here’s an ABC news posting that includes some dramatic videos of the flooding in the Catskills and Vermont, plus other areas that were affected by Irene.
Recent Flights and Weather for the Week
Monday, August 29th, 2011In the calm before the storm, we got in a couple of good flights for some folks. I flew on Friday afternoon and Saturday morning. After that I got ready for Irene which did it’s worst with excessive rain and enough wind to blow trees down on power lines and some homes in the area. I will not be flying for a few days while I wait for the flying area to dry. My landowner friends out in the flight area, wouldn’t take to kindly to someone being out in their fields with a balloon right now, with it being so wet after the major dump of rain from Irene. I will keep you informed as to when we will start flying later in the week.
On Friday evening, I flew Tammy from Wynantskill, Sharon from Greenwich, and her dad Don from Tribes Hill, who was celebrating his 80th birthday.
In the perverbial calm before the storm, I flew a group of frinds on Saturday morning. On the flight were Fred and Nancy from CA, Elias from NYC and Stephan from NJ
If you are coming to Lake George this week, check to make sure your hotel wasn’t damaged in the storm. I not sure of the current status, but parts of Lake George Village were underwater due to flooding from run-off, and the main drag, Canada St, through the Village and the Beach Road were closed. We got a lot of rain in a short amount of time. Some shops and hotel/motels were flooded. It should be cleaned up fairly quickly, but it wouldn’t hurt to check ahead to be safe. Here is some info posted online by the local paper, Post Star. This article is about Lake George.
Recent Hot Air Balloon Flights
Thursday, August 25th, 2011It’s time again, to update the recent flights taken.
Back on the 17th, I flew Michael and Laura from Bristol CT
On Tuesday morning the 23rd, I flew Fran and Burdette, who are from the Tupper Lake area.
On Tuesday afternoon, it was Grace and Michael from Belmar NJ, who were celebrating Grace's 50th birthday. Happy Birthday Grace!
On Wednesday morning, Virginia and Jeff from NJ celebrated Jeff's 55th birthday with a flight. Happy Birthday Jeff!
Side Trips taken this Week
Monday, August 22nd, 2011On a beautiful Saturday afternoon and no flights scheduled, the wifey and I took advantage of a rare August, Saturday afternoon off, to take a trip up into the mountains and visit Lake Placid. We rarely get to Placid on an August Saturday afternoon, and with the day so nice, we were in the mood to head north into the Adirondack’s to enjoy some of the offerings available during the warmer time of year, as opposed to the fall/winter season, that usually draws us north. We found the place bustling with activity and were not able to do all we were hoping to do. The boat cruise on Lake Placid was sold out, and a hike at Adirondack Loj didn’t happen since their parking lot was full, and to hike, you had to park nearly a mile away and hike to hike? So, we took a pass on doing that till a later date when it’s not so crowded. Lake Placid is a place that’s steeped in Olympic history and currently is one of the training sites for Team USA. It’s a 4 season destination, that is most busy during the summer and winter months, not so, spring and fall. If you are into hiking, the trip back into the Adirondack Loj, which is maintained by the Adirondack Mountain Club, is well worth the trip.
On Route 73, heading toward Keene Valley and Lake Placid.
This is the Noon Mark Diner in Keene Valley, a good place to eat-they are noted for their pies. Keene Valley is one of the popular hiking destinations along Route 73.
One of the first things you notice just before you get to Lake Placid, are the two Ski Jumping Towers that were built for the 1980 Winter Olympics. They are still used by Team USA for training and various competitive events during the winter.
Welcome to the Village of Lake Placid
The view down Main Street. There a number of good shops and restaurants to haunt.
We had lunch on the outdoor patio of The Adirondack Steak and Seafood Restaurant
They offer a fine selection of their own brews from their Adirondack Brewing Co.
On the far end of the main drag is the Brown Dog Cafe & Wine Bar. We've eaten there a couple of times and can highly recommend it.
Mirror Lake in the summertime.
On the Adirondack Loj Road, looking west.
On the Adirondack Loj Road, the view south toward Marcy Dam and Adirondack Loj.
Well, that’s it for this post. When visiting the area, it’s well worth exploring north into the Adirondack’s. Either take Route 28 north out of Warrensburgh at Exit 23 of the Adirondack Northway, or continue north to Exit 30, which takes you to Keene Valley and Lake Placid.
Updating Recent Balloon Flights and Weather
Tuesday, August 16th, 2011Time to update recent flights. Earlier in the month, the reservations slowed some, probably because of the children fighting down in DC, making people hesitant to do? And now, it appears that we are past our dry period for the season, check-out the Climate Prediction Center forecast for the balance of the month, at least for now.
Last Friday morning, we flew Sheila, Rob, Anna and Duncan.
The end of a beautiful, late Friday afternoon flight for Jim and Beth.
Saturday morning was the last of the good flying weather. I flew James and his daughter Alexis, who James was sharing some quality dad time with, before she heads-out to college at Fredonia toward the end of the month.
The weather forecast for the balance of the week, as posted today, looks somewhat promising for getting some flights-in. But, if you read the forecast discussion, the weather is not quite as promising past late Thursday into the weekend. So, hopefully, the glass is half full scenario works-out. We could use some dry-time after all the rain from the last couple of days.